Description

‘A sharp-eyed and tender novel about human connection’ (PAULA HAWKINS) from the bestselling, National Book Award-winning author of The Friend

‘Layered and thoughtful … it’s plainly written, but has beautiful depths’ TELEGRAPH – THE 75 HOTTEST BOOKS OF 2024 SO FAR

‘A must-read about unlikely friendships’ SUNDAY TIMES STYLE

‘One of my favourite authors’ NATALIE PORTMAN

‘A novel that truly, truly speaks to the soul’ GLAMOUR

‘Makes you feel smarter and more alive’ PEOPLE

Three strangers are thrown together in one Manhattan apartment: a solitary writer; a Gen Z college drop-out; and a spirited parrot named Eureka. As the world outside descends into turmoil, the three of them must learn how to live with and care for one another – and discover what happens when strangers are willing to open their hearts to each other.

‘Compulsively readable’ ELLE

‘A gorgeous, funny novel about connection’ iPAPER

‘A breath of fresh air for a time when it still sometimes feels there isn’t any’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

‘Beautiful and profound’ MEG MASON

‘Infused with moments of hilarity and wisdom. Beautiful’ WOMAN’S WEEKLY

‘Filled with moments of the sublime’ CAROLINE O’DONOGHUE

‘Once you discover Sigrid Nunez, you don’t look back’ ANNE ENRIGHT

‘Cracks open windows and offers a reassuring breeze, reminding us that it’s OK – and perhaps even necessary – to need each other; it’s only human’ SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

‘I am committed, until one of us dies, to Nunez’s novels. They are short, wise, provocative, funny’ NEW YORK TIMES

Publisher Review

Once you discover Sigrid Nunez, you don't look back * Anne Enright * A sharp-eyed and tender novel about human connection in a time of crisis. As compassionate as it is disquieting, and as funny as it is painfully honest * Paula Hawkins * Beautiful and profound * Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and Bliss * I am committed, until one of us dies, to Nunez's novels. I find them ideal. They are short, wise, provocative, funny - good and strong company * Dwight Garner, New York Times * Sigrid Nunez has a talent for slim, companionable novels that have both delicacy and power * Vogue * The Vulnerables is full of alive, curious poetry on the chaotic times we live in * Sheena Patel, author of I'm a Fan * With the intimacy and humour of a great conversation, this novel makes you feel smarter and more alive * People Magazine * A breath of fresh air for a time when it still sometimes feels like there isn't any * Good Housekeeping * Smart and sad and funny * Sarah Moss * It is exciting to read a book that manages to be so honest and serious, and at the same time so playful and witty * Natasha Walter * It's fresh, it's funny and it's very now. It has humour and honesty in spades, both wielded in self-defence against a world that feels off-kilter and almost absurd in its terribleness, from the gig economy to the Trump 'phenomenon', from creative frustration to urban burnout. I love Sigrid's clarity and quick expression, along with her quirky range of interests, her economy and lightness of touch * Bidisha * Sigrid Nunez is a beautiful storyteller: there's beauty, depth, lightness and whimsy in her writing. But what I most admired was her confidence to be playful and inventive. The Vulnerables is clever, refreshing and fulfilling to read * Claire Kohda, author of Woman, Eating * Grounded in an unexpected friendship between an abandoned bird and a lonely, older novelist, The Vulnerables finds new ways to expound on themes of community, companionship, and finding hope in seemingly hopeless situations * Harper's Bazaar, Best Books of 2023 * Sigrid Nunez is the godmother of contemplating empathy and connection ...A novel that cracks open windows and offers a reassuring breeze, reminding us that it's OK - and perhaps even necessary - to need each other; it's only human * San Francisco Chronicle * What Nunez is trying to do instead is find meaning, to understand. What this feels like is an eventful, rich, addictive conversation with your smartest, funniest and most well-read friend. Except, Nunez says, the conversation takes on new dimensions and new textures when it's written down * Los Angeles Times * Nunez's rare ability to be at once wistfully elegiac and sharply hilarious make The Vulnerables a gift * Boston Globe * Hilarious and deeply reflective * Time * Nunez's writing seems always to be just what I need. The Vulnerables is a gorgeous book on ageing and regret and, as is often the case, on writing. Nunez is always posing controversial questions or ideas and leaving the reader to make up their mind. I loved it * Ayisha Malik * Nunez has a wry compassion, and an eye for the kind of detail only grown-ups can catch. The books feel lived-in rather than hard-earned, the voice is smart and kind * Anne Enright, The Times * Nunez is a master at writing vivid characters in ordinary situations and bringing them to life, making every page fly by. And The Vulnerables is no different - it's a poignant and deft portrayal of humanity in a time when nothing felt normal * Shondaland * Sigrid Nunez is on a roll. She's tapped into a smart, wry voice which feels right for our times, as do her concerns with friendship, empathy, loss, and loneliness * NPR * Nunez's voice is unflinching and intimate * Entertainment Weekly * One of my favourite authors * Natalie Portman * New work from Sigrid Nunez is always a cause for celebration-and I'm thrilled to dive into her latest, The Vulnerables, a book about pandemic isolation, the pursuit of art, and the importance of connection in a turbulent reality * Elle * Nunez's prose itself comforts us. Her confident and direct style uplifts-the music in her sentences, her deep and varied intelligence. She addresses important ideas unpretentiously and offers wisdom for any aspiring writer * New York Times Book Review * Long live Sigrid Nunez * Laura Marling * What's consistent across Nunez's books is their searching tone about the biggest of life's questions * Washington Post * Spare and understated and often quite funny, the experience is less like reading fiction than like eavesdropping on someone else's brain . . . despite the grimness of the setting, the novel itself is strangely, sweetly hopeful; there is, it seems, a reason to go on. Sharp-and surprisingly tender. * Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW * Funny and thoughtful ... Nunez manages to make a story of mortality go down easy * Publishers Weekly * Nunez gracefully leaps from big emotions, including grief, to erudite literary digressions or biting wit * Wall Street Journal *